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Archive for ‘Google Doodles’

When I was a boy (way back in the 1900s), Father’s Day and Mother’s Day were easy. You got together with family, ate a lot of food, and gave mom and dad cards and gifts. Simple, easy, done. But earlier this week, I started thinking about all the other bases I have to cover because my dad is on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and of course email. I figured that this now means a wall post, tweet, G+ hangout, and possibly a lame animated eCard. But after a little bit of my daily internet rummaging, I realized that the wonderful world wide web has a lot to offer if you’re looking online for Father’s Day ideas…Here’s what I found:

As a mild warning, I bought a Groupon from FTD florists this past Mother’s Day and was seriously disappointed. The flowers never showed up. So I tweeted about the issue, and within 24 hours I was refunded in full and a great bouquet arrived for my mother. Good customer service from FTD and Groupon to make this right.

Father’s Day Gift Ideas. Sure, there are plenty of retailers and other websites offering their ideas for dad, but my favourite has to be the 10 Best Father’s Day Gifts for Geeky Dads from @Mashable. Here you’ll find binary code t-shirts, lego tie clips, Moleskine notebook shell cases, and more.

iPhone Apps. Appadvice.com curated a list of iPhone apps dad might like. With offerings of primarily sports games and reading apps, this list left me scratching my head a bit; perhaps it is designed for the teen-dad in your family.

Google Doodle. Google has showcased a Father’s Day Google Doodle (log0) every year for over a decade, so watch for a new one this Sunday. I anticipate they will use the one below originally posted March 19, 2012 when Father’s Day is celebrated in some European and Central American countries.

And, of course, if you were out late on Saturday night and you’re due at the pulpit in 15 minutes but forgot your sermon at the pub, don’t worry: pull out your smart phone and check out these Father’s Day sermons from preaching.com.

Hope everyone has a great Father’s Day full of red meat, relaxation, and good beer!

We all love them, well at least that’s the insight I get from all the online polls I’ve seen, and the quick one I ran earlier this week. Officially known as Google Doodles, they are those modified Google logos that appear out of nowhere to celebrate a person, achievement, or holiday. Everyone seems to be excited when a new Doodle pops up; some even stop by my office and ask, “hey did you see Google today?” But my question is “what is Google trying to tell us?”

To figure out what Google was trying to communicate with these modified logos, I went right to the source. I contacted the Google Doodle Department, and they got back to me – the next business day! In short, Doodles are trying to do two things:

1. Celebrate innovation. This is clear in their response:

“The doodles aim to celebrate interesting events and anniversaries around the world that reflect Google’s personality and love of innovation.”

The importance of innovation is something that comes through anytime I speak with somebody from Google, receive an email, or attend a Google presentation. They firmly believe that innovation and excellence is what keeps them as “King of search”. By celebrating people and achievements like Andy Warhol, Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, NASA finding water on the moon, 100th Anniversary of Flight, 50th Anniversary of Understanding DNA, and so on, they are aligning themselves with some of history’s most notorious innovators, essentially inserting themselves into the innovation narrative. Clever.

2. Establish and grow an emotional connection with their users. This wasn’t quite as obvious in the responses from Google, but it was a pretty easy conclusion to draw. Many of the responses to my questions included phrases like “[doodles are] one of the most beloved parts of Google,” “We’ve been coming out with more doodles simply because we want to have more fun,” “giving our users something enjoyable when they come to our homepage,” “People seem to really look forward to going to our homepage and seeing what new doodle is on there,” etc. – driving home the emotion of happiness.

Who wouldn’t want to use the search engine that makes them feel happy? This is a real branding accomplishment. Google has been able to emotionally brand their service, with help from the Doodles. Most organizations would rather die before modifying their logos (“we have graphic standards, you know!”), but Google embraces it and uses the opportunity to grow this emotional connection. Well done.